Since I arrived here, I have been spending at least a couple of hours a day walking around. Sometimes I have a specific destination in mind like an apartment to visit, or sometimes I just want to be outside getting a feel for the city. At first on these aimless rambles I stayed pretty close to my hostel for fear of getting horribly lost again, but slowly I’ve gained confidence and have now started to get myself lost on purpose just to see if I can make it home. This city is well equipped for such rambles as there are lots of big city landmarks and the signage is tourist friendly.

I have also become fascinated by the integration of new and old buildings and the detail work that has been put into many of the buildings. After having most recently lived in New York City, where the standard protocol seems to be to get buildings up as fast as possible and as tall as possible, and Orange County, California, which has the same ideals about speed and makes an effort to make every building homogenous, Barcelona is a relief. There is some semblance of thought and city planning but frequently a new building will be built next to a century old building. The new building does not emulate the old one, but is made in the style of the time and some how the looks never seem to clash. Take this photo below, where the new and the old buildings live side by side.

The other thing that is frequently seen, is buildings that no longer serve their original intended purpose; instead of ripping them out and starting over, the buildings have just been adapted to fulfill new needs. For instance I think this building may have once been a church but now it has a bank at the bottom.

It’s the details of the city that I love the most. It’s just fun to walk through a city with so much detail, even many of the sidewalks are tiled.